HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Collins Aerospace, an RTX business in Charlotte, N.C., has won multiple contracts from Bell Textron Inc. in Fort Worth, Texas, to provide five critical systems for the U.S. Army’s MV-75 Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA).
Collins Aerospace will deliver main power generation, an interconnect drive system, a SmartProbe air data system, cockpit seating, and an ice protection system for the MV-75, which is designed to replace portions of the Army’s UH-60 Black Hawk fleet with a faster, longer-range aircraft capable of operating in contested environments.
Collins’ main power generation system supplies energy to flight-critical avionics, mission systems, and onboard subsystems. The system is expected to support a high-reliability electrical distribution network.
"The Army's new generation of rotorcraft needs to fly farther and faster, and we're committed to helping Bell accelerate delivery of that advanced performance with Collins' military-grade commercial technology," said Troy Brunk, president of Collins Aerospace. "We have ready-now manufacturing and service capabilities around the globe to ensure the Army can urgently deliver, modernize, and sustain the MV-75 FLRAA for the next 50 years."
Related: Collins to upgrade and sustain Army UH-60M helicopter glass cockpit multifunction display avionics
Driving progress
The interconnect drive system represents a flight-critical element of the MV-75’s tiltrotor drivetrain, enabling mechanical power transfer across the propulsion system. This capability supports continued rotor operation in degraded scenarios and plays a key role in load balancing and rotor synchronization for the aircraft’s tiltrotor configuration based on Bell’s V-280 Valor.
Collins’ SmartProbe air data system provides key flight parameters such as airspeed, angle of attack, and pressure measurements, using integrated onboard processing to deliver digital outputs to the flight control system. By embedding processing at the sensor level, the system reduces analog wiring, improves signal integrity, and supports more advanced flight control and sensor fusion capabilities.
"We are happy to work with Collins Aerospace and add their expertise to Team FLRAA," said Ryan Ehinger, senior vice president and program director at Bell. "Together, we are committed to delivering a high-performing, reliable aircraft that will provide the U.S. Army with the critical capability it needs for the future fight."
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FLRAA program background
The FLRAA program is a central component of the Army’s Future Vertical Lift initiative, which seeks to field a new generation of rotorcraft with significantly greater speed, range, and survivability than legacy platforms. Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor was selected for the program in December 2022 over a competing compound coaxial design from Sikorsky and Boeing. The production aircraft received the MV-75 designation in 2025.
Designed as the Army’s first clean-sheet rotorcraft in decades, the MV-75 is expected to deliver roughly twice the speed and range of current helicopters. The program relies on digital engineering and a modular open systems approach to enable lifecycle flexibility, technology insertion, and long-term sustainment.
Bell is leading a broad industrial team supporting FLRAA, including Collins Aerospace for multiple aircraft systems and Marotta Controls in Montville, N.J., which has been selected to provide power conversion technology. The program also has benefited from collaboration with NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., where high-fidelity simulation and pilot-in-the-loop evaluations have helped validate flight performance and handling characteristics.
Work on the Collins systems will be performed across several U.S. locations, including Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia.
